Coverage of the Portland Sea Dogs and Red Sox Organization

Back home, Good for Lars

11:55 PM – What a beautiful day in Maine as the Sea Dogs open up a 7-game homestand tonight against the New Britain Rock Cats (Twins affiliate). Portland returns home after going 4-2 on their week long trip in Trenton and Binghamton. The Rock Cats have begun the season with an ugly start by losing five straight, but have dropped 11 of 12 at home. That has to very depressing for the team and the fans.

Now on to Lars Anderson! For those who listen to the broadcasts over the past years, will know how much I’ve defended Lars and felt he’s received unfair treatment by fans, media and some baseball people. When the Red Sox did not sign Mark Teixeira a few January’s ago, the questions immediately shifted to the young first baseman. This was not good timing, since the Red Sox Rookie Development Program was going on and the media was asking Lars if he was happy with the decision, since his path to the big leagues would happen quicker. To me, that was not fair to assume he would replace Mike Lowell on the roster and shift Kevin Youkilis to third base and the whole family is happy. This game does not work that way and the minor leagues is called “DEVELOPMENT” To many of us forget that. Last year, Lars had 150 bad at-bats to end the season and everyone wrote him off and shifted gears to Anthony Rizzo, saying he’s the next first base prospect. I’m glad for Anderson’s start and not by any means does this guarantee he’ll just role in Pawtucket and play for Boston this year, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did.

Yes I’m on a soap box, but I feel the past two years we’re expecting way too much from this young guys. If they have any failures the reaction is “forget them.”

So don’t give up on these guys if they have a few struggles, Derek Jeter made close to 60 errors in A-Ball one year, I’m sure everyone said he would never play in the big leagues.

Some from information from today’s Sea Dogs’ Game Notes:

BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN: The Sea Dogs open up a 7-game homestand on Friday
night by hosting the New Britain Rock Cats (Twins affiliate) at Hadlock
Field…Portland was off yesterday and finished their past roadtrip at 4-2…The
Sea Dogs clinched a winning road record in April at 8-5, but have dropped 4 of
6 at Hadlock Field…New Britain has lost five straight games, including 12 of 13
at home…Portland swept the Rock Cats in a 3-game series in New Britain on April
12-14.

MOVING ON UP:Yesterday
1B Lars Anderson was promoted to
Triple-A Pawtucket and made his debut with the PawSox last night…Anderson
replaced C Mark Wagner as a
pinch-hitter in the sixth inning and grounded out…The California native had
reached base in 14 straight games with the Sea Dogs before his promotion and
leads the team in average (.355), homers (5) RBI (16), hits (22), total bases
(42), on-base percentage (.408) and slugging percentage (.677).

LET THE HITS KEEP COMING: OF Che-Hsuan
Lin picked up his first 3-hit game in Double-A by going 3-for-4 on
Wednesday night in Binghamton…Lin has two multi-hit games in his last three
starts and six of his 14 hits have come over his past four starts.

EXTENDING THE STREAK: 2B Ray Chang
extended his hitting streak to a team-high nine straight games by going 1-for-3
on Wednesday…Chang made his second start of the season at first base and is
currently the active leader in average at .302…SS Jose Iglesias hit .348 (8-for-23) on the roadtrip.

CASEY ON THE MOUND:
RHP Casey Kelly allowed a
season-high three runs in his last start over 2.1 IP…Kelly suffered the loss in
the series finale at Binghamton – his first decision in Double-A…The righty has
fanned at least two batters in all four starts this season, covering just 10.2
IP.

YES, THAT IS THE SAME GUY: After being designated for assignment during the past
roadtrip, RHP Santo Luis cleared
waivers and was reassigned to the Sea Dogs…Luis worked a perfect inning on
Wednesday night…RHP T.J. Large joined
Portland on the road and appeared in two games, allowing three runs over 4.1
IP.

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